ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the marketing imperative – the tools and tactics that can be used to achieve this by creating a compelling and clear value proposition, and capturing, communicating, and delivering this value. The framing of the key marketing principles is generally around the marketing mix. Direct-to-consumer marketing reduces the reliance on big advertising budgets, expensive manufacturing facilities, research and development expenses, and physical retailers to carry the products. Marketers need to understand consumers at a much more granular level, and make marketing tactics local, even hyper-local. People – the individuals responsible for sales and marketing. People are very significant particularly in the marketing of services since human interaction is often a major element of customers' evaluation of service quality. The overall marketing strategy is an integral part of the pitch since it has to present a clear, concise road map for the value proposition which will lead to customer acquisition, and the revenue that results.
